64 keeps freezing...

Andy_Bogomil

I was playing my grey OoT cart yesterday and it worked fine until I realized it wasn't holding a save. I started another quest with my gold cart and 9/10 times it wouldn't get through the start of the game (after you start, but before you take control of Link) without freezing. Everytime it froze the screen would go blank and there would be a "-" (hyphen) on the top left of the screen. I thought at this point it was just the gold cart, so I took the battery from it and put in on my grey cart board and everything was fine until after I saved. I came back to start playing again and the freezes started all over. So at this point I'm guessing it's the system and not the game since it was now a different board freezing.



This is my secondary 64 as my original one is at my brother's place. I do have some significant play time on this console though going through Wave Race, Mario Kart, and Mario 64 recently and never had an issue. I did notice when troubleshooting yesterday that the jumper pak in it is a knockoff expansion pak (red top) and not an official Nintendo brand. Is this the issue? I've read these things are less than ideal from looking around online? Should I just clean the system and the pins to the jumper pak? I won't have access to my original 64 for a few weeks until I am home for the holidays so I can't exactly try that and I also don't have the original jumper pak for the system. Thoughts? Is there something about OoT that would push the system a little harder than the previous games I mentioned?

Mega Mario Man

Sounds like an expansion pak issue. Swap it out and see if you still have the same issue. I always keep a couple of jumpers on me to test odd issues like this on systems I pick up.

jacob...

most likely the 3rd party exp pak.

if replacing that doesnt work clean the system. if you disassemble the system to clean it, check the two small chips that are located above the expansion port as i have seen these become loose. although if your system has never been disassembled this shouldnt be your issue. these chips can be broken loose when people dissasemble the sytem and the thermal pads pull up on these chips while removing the heat sink.



also check the legs of all chips for dirt and debris. the legs i circled in the pic below have been the issue for me fixing several "broken" systems over the years. they would behave similar to what you are describing







ive seen a lot of people saying to replace the power cord aswell. ive never had any problems with a power cord but if all else fails its worth a shot.

Mobiusstriptech

Yeah 3rd party expansion paks are common with these types of issues. The ram chips that jacob... pointed out will only break loose if you attempt to remove the heat sink/rf shield. Basically if you open the console to clean it. These do not always break loose and the issue is not seen on the single chip versions which came in most NS2 and up consoles.

Andy_Bogomil

Sweet. Thanks, everyone! I'll clean up the system and likely take a look at getting another expansion pak at some point.

Ichinisan

Originally posted by: jacob...



most likely the 3rd party exp pak.

if replacing that doesnt work clean the system. if you disassemble the system to clean it, check the two small chips that are located above the expansion port as i have seen these become loose. although if your system has never been disassembled this shouldnt be your issue. these chips can be broken loose when people dissasemble the sytem and the thermal pads pull up on these chips while removing the heat sink.



also check the legs of all chips for dirt and debris. the legs i circled in the pic below have been the issue for me fixing several "broken" systems over the years. they would behave similar to what you are describing







ive seen a lot of people saying to replace the power cord aswell. ive never had any problems with a power cord but if all else fails its worth a shot.

The way to avoid ripping the RDRAM chips from the board: Carefully lift the heatsink from the back side (close to the game cart connector).

Andy_Bogomil

Pulled out the expansion pak and found the exact product on Amazon... I think I've found my problem judging by the reviews lol. So anyone thinking of buying a Simple Jet pak should avoid at all costs. 



https://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/B00CQ4FEKE/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_viewpnt_rgt?filterByStar=critical&pageNumber=1



Funny thing is, is that it only seems to be OoT freezing for me. Even MM, which requires the pak, is fine from what I can tell. Doom, Pilot Wings, Cruisin' USA were all running fine, as well as the games I mentioned above. Very odd. I'll get another one soon enough. Thanks for the help, guys, you were bang on!

Koopa64

That motherboard scan is so hawt.

Nes Freak

Originally posted by: Koopa64



That motherboard scan is so hawt.

wrong site for that dude lol.

Nes Freak

i always buy first party stuff never third party.

Andy_Bogomil

Originally posted by: Nes Freak

i always buy first party stuff never third party.

Agreed on that for the most part.

This was already in the 64 when I bought it still a great deal... 2 grape controllers and the matching console for $50 Canadian a few years back.

VGS_OptOut

Is that a more modern 3rd party pak? Because I've had a 3rd party pak in my system since around 1999, and never had an issue. It's the Xp2 style which kinda sticks out the top of the system a bit. Maybe the quality on these varies quite a bit between makes?

Mobiusstriptech

I've tried a few different 3rd party ones and always found that they had issues with specific games. Had one that wouldn't work with rogue squadron and another that hated my everdrive and also smash bros.

Andy_Bogomil

I bought the 64 a few years ago, so I'm not sure how old the pak itself is. I can confirm it really only seems to hate OoT from what I can tell. Tried a few more games tonight with absolutely no issue and never had an issue before playing OoT on it the other day. The fact that it was consistently freezing with both carts was enough for me to realize it was likely the expansion pak. It seems even with this specific pak there are extreme differences in performance as a lot of people on Amazon said they were unable to play any games, while others gave it five stars.